1. Field of the Invention
This invention generally relates to data processing techniques, and more specifically, to a basic input output system (BIOS) setting method.
2. Description of Related Art
A basic input output system (BIOS) is an embedded software and is stored in the form of a firmware in varieties of hardware and systems, such as information, telecommunication, consumer electronic products. The BIOS is in charge of driving, control management, and interfacing between human and machine, and can be applied to programs. BIOS is a software, but it is capable of adding functions and value to hardware thus saving production cost by making a hardware capable of software functions, compared with an operating system or an applied software, it has closer relationship with hardware and is in charge of the setting of central processing unit, memory, and boot order, etc. and it is the key that determines if the hardware functions can be brought into full performances. In addition, BIOS provides the most reliable security protection mechanism to prevent any unauthorized users from accessing computers.
When a computer is turned on, BIOS is executed by the flash memory of the circuit board, and the subsystems of chip sets and memory are sequentially displaying on and disappearing from the display unit, and then the BIOS itself decompresses from the flash memory to the system main memory and begins to execute therefrom. The BIOS codes of PC also has diagnostic functions in order to ensure some important hardware elements, such as keyboard, disk device, and input/output ports etc. can function and be initialized normally. Almost all of the BIOSs are capable of selectively executing the preset programs of a complementary metal oxide semiconductor (CMOS) memory; in other words, the BIOS is capable of saving users' preset information of time, date, and hard disc's details, etc.
In the BIOS implementations of nowadays, after getting into a BIOS setting mode, user is allowed to selectively set fan speed, control energy saving, set over clocking, and decide which device to be turned on first, devices such as video disc player, hard disk, floppy disk, flash, and others, this function provides special advantage for installing operating system. However, in the aforementioned BIOSs, after the boot order or any other related configurations have been set, the system will restart no matter the aforementioned BIOS setting is saved or not, all the related boot procedure, such as the power on self test and the initiation option ROM execution will reprocess again, and then proceed to the operating system for loading operations. As a matter of fact, for some of the setting contents, even after they have been revised and skipping out of the BIOS setting mode, the POST procedure can be continued without the need of restarting computer. However, in the BIOS setting mechanism of prior art, after revise and save any BIOS setting contents, the data processing unit must restart as soon as it skips the BIOS setting mode, for any revised BIOS setting that do not effect the continuing POST procedure, apparently it wastes time to go over the boot order again.
In view of the above, it is a highly urgent issue in the industry for how to provide a basic input output system setting method, which can effectively solve the drawback that it has to restart the data processing unit for any revised BIOS setting contents and thus wastes time in the boot order as in the prior art.